Displaying items by tag: law student

Chris Bentley says Ryerson has paid and unpaid placements ready to go but more are still needed.

With the law practice program’s French and English sections ramping up for Sept. 2 and Aug. 25 launches, respectively, there is a common vibe from those at the helm of the innovative program: optimism.

Many Canadian academics are familiar with the Carnegie Foundation’s 2007 report “Educating Lawyers” and its call for significant changes to the American model of legal education. Although it is an obvious oversimplification of a complex argument, the basic idea advanced in “Educating Lawyers” is that American law schools ought to look beyond preparing their students to do legal analysis and research and devote significantly more attention both to enhancing their students’ practical skills and to developing their professional identity.

In March, I had a wonderful opportunity to speak with many incoming 1Ls as part of a panel hosted by the Laurier Law Society. With a level of retrospective comfort (after all, I’m a law student now), I encountered students in one of two broad categories: the overconfident, and the overwrought. For the latter, I am sure nerves will eventually settle as the unfamiliar becomes day-to-day. My advice is for the former.

I survived the LSAT and even made it to Western University, but I had no idea the real challenge would be securing an articling position in the aftermath of a global economic recession. It has been called the “articling crisis,” though in every crisis lies opportunity and the future is bright.

When I began law school, I had a plan to succeed. Warned of the arduous grind of reading, I was intent on studying with razor-sharp focus. No distractions. No extracurricular. Away from home, it would be all school, all the time.

My first year of law school at the University of New Brunswick was like a Patrick Chan Olympic skate. In the months and weeks leading up, there was focused preparation followed by equal parts fear and anticipation. Once it began, there were moments of glorious success and moments of utter disaster — with the encouragement of coaches throughout. Monitoring the performance of competitors became routine. In the end, the judges decided it was neither first place nor thankfully last place.

Outgoing dean Mayo Moran says she’ll be keeping the law school close to hear heart.

Mayo Moran has served as dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto since 2006. She’s set to officially move on in July, but says she’ll keep U of T Law close to her heart — figuratively and literally.